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oem version or full retail confusion
have a 3000 that i am sure has a bootleg version of windows.Was bought used and no product key on computer. Was never able to use ms upgrades because of this. My son now wants to upgrade to xp pro.Do we need the retail version or oem? Thanks for any info. I went through about 20 pages in this section and still not sure. Do we need to uninstall what he has if it is bootleg as I suspect.
JRosenfeld
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Posted June 8th, 2006 23:00
Personally, I would buy a retail version, even though it will probably be more expensive. Many of the so called OEM 'bargain price' offers come with a suspect VLK (volume license key) key that the Windows validation tool (now a mandatory update for XP SP2) may well reject as invalid (MS has a database of such pirated keys).I think that you will need to do a clean install of XP, in any case I would advise it if you are upgrading to XP pro as well. Back up ypour personal files to removable media because a clean install includes a format of the drive. After XP install, don't forget chipset drivers and other device drivers, etc, you should be able to get what you need from the Dell downloads for the 3000 (get them before installing XP, so you have them to hand to install before going on the internet).Don't go on the internet for Windows updates or anything else until you have installed Anti virus software as well, and turned on a firewall (either the XP one or a third party one such as Zone Alarm).Message Edited by JRosenfeld on 06-09-200601:26 AM
rickmktg
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Posted June 8th, 2006 23:00
Pro is significantly more expensive than Home, so make sure he NEEDS Pro vs. WANTS Pro. Beyond networking in a corporation, there's little advantage to it.